Iron on Iron-Brigman Fitness

Iron on Iron-Brigman Fitness Health and Fitness Tips, including routines, diet, supplements and peptides

TUT!!! No.. it’s not an ancient king!! TUT in the iron community is an anachronism for “TIME UNDER TENSION”. Human’s hat...
09/15/2026

TUT!!! No.. it’s not an ancient king!! TUT in the iron community is an anachronism for “TIME UNDER TENSION”.

Human’s hate tension. It feels like it wrecks our nervous system. However, tension is a necessity of life. In our love and romantic relationships, a healthy amount of tension is essential. It’s the the anticipation. It’s the mind going to places that we need and desire.
Tension is healthy in our professional lives. It’s what pushes us and drives us to be better. To excel. To push forward.
Tension in athletics, pushes us to victory..or yes. Even defeat, if you can’t handle it.

In the iron community, concerning the proper way to lift? There is absolutely, nothing more important.
I don’t see it as much as I used to. In my current gym, most people are knowledgeable enough to not do, what I’m about to describe. However, I did see it yesterday, with two young men working out. Here it is.. loading up the bar and going as fast and as hard as possible. A quick lower (almost a drop) and an explosive raise. The raise is not the issue as much, as the lowering is.
I practice, believe in and teach, a slow, steady and smooth lowering of the weight, and never letting it rest at the lowered state, stopping, just before the bottom. Then, raising back up, with as much force as possible. Why is this “the way”? Because the entire time, through every rep and every set, our muscles are under tension. This causes HYPERTROPHY. What is this? It is the increase in cell size. When we lift and lower weights, it pushes blood to the muscle cells (the pump). When this occurs, it causes tiny, micro stress on the muscle cell fibers. God created our bodies to adapt. Adapting in this case is to increase the cell size with water and protein. This builds the muscle back larger. That’s how to grow your muscles. So, for everyone that has messaged and asked my “how” do I lift. That’s it. Every lift, I attempt to do slow, steady and smooth and push with as much force as possible, on the acceleration. But, the lowering is slow.. keeping the muscle under tension the entire time.
Give it a try! I promise, it works! You may have to let the ego go and even do less weight. That’s fine! The muscle doesn’t know how much weight you are lifting and lowering. It just knows that it’s under tension and needs to adapt!! Arnold never curled more than a 40 lb dumbbell. But, what he DID do was focus on form, and tension!

Legs on the Lord’s Day! Yes.. legs. The primary muscles in the body. They aren’t the show muscles. But, they are your fo...
09/13/2026

Legs on the Lord’s Day! Yes.. legs. The primary muscles in the body. They aren’t the show muscles. But, they are your foundation. It’s been proven that squats naturally raise men’s testosterone. Your quadriceps are your body’s largest muscle. Please take my word… working legs intensely, will assist all of the other muscles in your body to grow.

There is so much to be said about leg training, that, I may do another, more detailed article later in the week. They are definitely the toughest to train for most people. They take a lot of energy from you, and they take longer to recover from work days (I train mine on Thursday and Sunday). Legs also are typically the most difficult muscles to see the effects of training. Women usually get quicker results and some men do (My Son is a man that gets quicker results than upper body), which is another reason, a lot of men, skip leg day. This is such an epidemic that, it’s actually a joke…”don’t skip leg day.” We’ve all seen the guy that is completely buff in his upper body and holding it all up on stilts. That tells me a lot about that guy. Primarily, he’s more concerned with looking good than actually being good.
Squats themselves are a perfect metaphor for life. Sometimes, you can get drastically low…. Do you have what it takes to rise again!?
With that being said, let’s do legs today!!!

I’ll post some workout examples later this week!

Ok.. two topics today! It was a very busy week for the business, so, I wasn’t able to give as much information. So, let’...
09/12/2026

Ok.. two topics today! It was a very busy week for the business, so, I wasn’t able to give as much information. So, let’s talk abs first!
Someone mentioned to me, “You have abs and you still eat what a burger”. Yes. Indeed I do, on both accounts . Believe it or not, my diet isn’t as tight as some would think. Most days, I have at least one meal that would surprise you. I believe in enjoying life and having fun. I love food. Love it. I always have. So, I’m not going to deprive myself of things I enjoy. So, my key is this:

I still stay in a calorie deficit, and I train abs like a madman.
First.. you have to maintain a deficit. The reason is, to have visible abs, your body fat is going to have to be 10 percent or less (mine is currently 6). That’s a must. So, if I’m a little looser with what I eat, That means I will definitely train everything harder. Not just abs. You can’t spot reduce fat. That’s another subject. But, I’ll get extra steps in, extra reps and sets. Anything to maintain the deficit.
Secondly, I do some form of ab movement daily. Actually, 3 or 4. Then, I have designated ab days (same days as legs).
My abdominal exercises are the following:

Crunches (weighted)
Machine crunches
Weighted leg raises
Hanging leg raises
Rope reverse crunches (weighted)
V-ups
Planks
Reverse crunches (weighted)

On ab days, I do everyone of these.
However, everyday, I do anywhere from 3-4 of these. I do 5 sets of 10 on everyone of these exercises.

Note*anything weighted and hanging are especially important.

Ok-Books! I love books as well! Yesterday, I was driving, and I had, had a nice week, closing several deals. I was thanking God for my blessings and my mind went to a Charlie Sheen quote… one word. “Winning”!!

I remember the statement..”The only thing I’m addicted to is winning!”

I love that! It’s a mindset. Losing is also a mindset. Have you ever been in or watched someone go into a negative spiral? They would talk negatively and the more they did, the more negative things would get? Like a black cloud followed them.
Listen! There is power in words!! Watch the words that come out of your mouth or what you listen to! If it’s negative?? That’s what you will attract. Every time.
So, attract winning!! Make it your mindset, thought process and vocabulary.
Which, brings me to Tim Grover’s book titled..”Winning”.

Not surprisingly, he was Michael Jordan’s personal trainer!

Give it a listen or read today!! Learn to win!!

What day is it? Labor Day? Well.. yes. Monday? Well… yes on that too. But, today is really “Muscle Monday”. Quick lesson...
09/07/2026

What day is it? Labor Day? Well.. yes. Monday? Well… yes on that too. But, today is really “Muscle Monday”.

Quick lesson from the gym this morning. There’s a gentleman that’s been coming since around April. He’s probably my age, or a bit older. He comes up to me, gets my attention and excited (because all of us need validation at times), and he says, “Hey buddy.., when I started in April, I couldn’t curl 20 lbs.. now, watch this! (He had a 55 that was about to rip him over lol)-Ge curled that 55!!
What’s my point you ask? Glad you asked. Since April, I’ve watched him. You can tell he has limited experience in the gym. I don’t force myself, I wait on someone to ask for help and have in this occasion as well. But, he works out without a “plan”. That’s obvious, as he just kind of goes from the smith machine press, to a dumbbell curl, then to the leg machine, with absolutely no order or plan, whatsoever.
But, I digress to my point. He is STILL making gains!!! Why? Because he’s here doing it! He has NO plan (we are going to work on that). But, he’s gotten much stronger, just because he’s doing it! Since I’ve started the page and chronicled my progress even on my personal page, I have had people ask me about a “plan”. I will give you one. I promise. But, the primary plan?? Make up your mind that you are going to do it!! Just will. Perseverance. Ambition and hunger. Start with that, and then, we will devise a plan.

Have a great Muscle Monday!

Let’s talk books! Yes, on a fitness page. Reading has really been the biggest portion of my life. It’s a means of entert...
09/04/2026

Let’s talk books! Yes, on a fitness page. Reading has really been the biggest portion of my life. It’s a means of entertainment, as well as information and education. I listen to more books these days, than sitting down and reading. That’s due to my busy schedule. But, I’m still consuming the material. The reason for the importance for this, is what I’ve been saying in every post. The fitness is a mindset! Your best program? Making up
Your mind to do it. Your best supplement? Making up your mind to do it. Your best diet? Making up your mind to do it? You get the picture. You have to decide what you want and get after it!
I’ve listed my 5 favorite, non fiction books, that have benefited me in my life. All five, I have read multiple times.. I had a difficult time in getting to five. So, the are my five favorite!

1. The Way of The Superior Man
2. The Big Stick
3. Green lights
4. 48 Laws of Power
5. EM Bounds on Prayer (Because everything hinges on prayer)

I realize that most of these are completely geared towards men. All can enjoy and men, I highly encourage you to definitely get started on them!

Two topics today! Yesterday was for the “dough”. Remember Mcconaughey’s Dad? Triceps are for dough and biceps for the sh...
09/02/2026

Two topics today! Yesterday was for the “dough”. Remember Mcconaughey’s Dad? Triceps are for dough and biceps for the show? Today, we look at the biceps. 1/3 of of the upper arm. The prefix “bi” means two heads, while the “tri”ceps has 3! These are the front view arm muscles. These are the muscles that you can walk up to any 3 year
Old little boy and ask to see his muscles, and what will he do?? That’s right! Flex his biceps.

These are worked, primarily in pulling movements, and are best suited on back days; because majority of the back exercises also are performed with a pulling motion. The many variations of curls, pulls ups, rows and back exercises work the biceps. Like I’ve mentioned before, I do a “Push, Pull, Legs” routine. So, on pull days, my back and biceps get the work. Let me know if I can be of any help!!

Next! I ran across these today! These were magazines and posters that I had, as a kid! All the way back to 8-9 years old, I could look at Rambo and Rocky and think…”I want to look like that!!”
Now, here is the beauty of that. I also dreamed of being the second baseman for the Atlanta Braves!! Well, you find out pretty early that, the Braves dream may not happen. But, here’s the good news!! You CAN look like these photos!! Set the goal, implement the plan, and make it happen!! Never give up on your goals! Crush them! Set new ones and then, crush those too!!

The biceps are for “show”, but, “these are for the dough.”-Matthew McConaughey (actually, his Dad). What did Matthew’s f...
09/01/2026

The biceps are for “show”, but, “these are for the dough.”-Matthew McConaughey (actually, his Dad).

What did Matthew’s father mean by that statement? The triceps are the “work” muscles. They give you power and overall strength in your arms, especially, for pushing!

Every pushing exercise is powered by the triceps. For anyone that desires big arms and overall arm strength, the triceps make up 2/3 of the entire upper arm.

Push downs, extensions, push ups, any kind of press, and my favorite… dips all are tricep exercises.

Message me for any workout or supplement product information! Have a great day!

Underrated exercise of the day! Farmer’s Carry’s!! Everyone needs to do these. Everyone. Young, old, male and female. Th...
08/30/2026

Underrated exercise of the day! Farmer’s Carry’s!! Everyone needs to do these. Everyone. Young, old, male and female. They work the entire body, especially the core. I do them on leg days. Initially, I wanted my grip strength and forearm strength to increase. That’s when I instituted them, into my routine. Since then, I’ve noticed the positive effects on my core and legs. This is a great and maybe the best, functional exercise. What one of us, have not known an older person, that complained of losing grip strength ? This will assist in that, as you age. It’s simple. Grab the heaviest dumbbells you can handle. Hold them by your sides and start walking. Go as long as you can, and then do another set, while increasing weight or walking time (progressive overload). Grab some weight, and get moving!

This is the “why” on the page, and “arm”To help people. Life can be difficult . There is no doubt about that. It seems, ...
08/28/2026

This is the “why” on the page, and “arm”
To help people. Life can be difficult . There is no doubt about that. It seems, as if everyone deals with something. When a person is getting at optimal health, it can have a positive impact on every area of their lives. We have enough critics. Be someone positive in someone else’s path. I received this message this morning, from a person that I lent advice to, in early July. These comments, make you want to continue forward, helping others.

The squat-King of all lifts. Why? Because it’s the perfect metaphor for life. Life will knock you down. Will you rise ba...
08/23/2026

The squat-King of all lifts. Why? Because it’s the perfect metaphor for life. Life will knock you down. Will you rise back up? Me and my gym owner Mike were talking the other day, how, we can literally FEEL our testosterone rising, while doing squats. There’s no excuse not to do them. It actually works the entire body. These days, there are enough machine variations, to where, even if your knees won’t allow you to do traditional squats, there are plenty of machine variations available. Find you a gym like HPT, where you actually have 6 stations where squats are either the focus, or you can squat from them!

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